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Cale Makar believes the 8-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday doesn’t reflect how the Avalanche played. Colorado started strong with Mikko Rantanen's goal at 10:48, assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews. But Vegas responded quickly, with Victor Olofsson tying the game at 11:15, assisted by Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore.
Vegas took control later in the period with Ivan Barbashev scoring at 18:32 (assists: Noah Hanifin, Jack Eichel), followed by Mark Stone's goal at 18:57 (assists: Eichel, Barbashev), making it 3-1 for Vegas.
Makar said that the Avalanche made key mistakes, which Vegas capitalized on, but overall, the team played well.
"I think we did a lot of really good things in the game." Makar said to Media post game Wednesday. " It's just, it's one of those nights where every mistake that we make, whether it's just no back pressure given the middle ice in certain areas, they're they're capitalizing on it, and when team does that, it definitely makes it hard.
"And again, there's those little things in the game that we we need to clean up and stuff. But I thought there were a lot of positives. I thought we started really well tonight. Everybody was moving"
In the second period, Colorado tried to make a comeback, with Mikko Rantanen scoring a power-play goal at 4:15, assisted by Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, cutting the lead to 3-2.
Vegas restored its two-goal lead with Zach Whitecloud's goal at 5:49. Casey Mittelstadt brought Colorado back within one at 17:32. But Vegas finished the period strong with a power-play goal by Victor Olofsson at 19:46, assisted by Shea Theodore and Tomas Hertl, making it 5-3. Miles Wood faced a penalty for boarding at 18:07.
In the third period, Colorado's Mikko Rantanen completed his hat-trick at 6:59, assisted by Cale Makar and Samuel Girard, bringing the score to 5-4. Vegas extended their lead with a power-play goal by Mark Stone. Ivan Barbashev added another for Vegas at 13:54, making it 7-4 before Brett Howden sealed the game with a late empty-net goal.
Although the Avalanche only allowed 21 shots, Cale Makar said that the team needs to improve in blocking shots and limiting odd-man rushes.
"But again, I don't think fully the score is indicative of how we felt we played tonight, but I guess you get what you deserve." said Makar. "So we definitely need to clean some things up."
Pavel Dorofeyev (Vegas) and Devon Toews (Avalanche) received penalty for high-sticking.
Cale Makar on goaltender Alexandar Georgiev's performance
Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev had a rough night, allowing five goals before being replaced by Justus Annunen. Cale Makar stressed that the defense must help Georgiev by giving him better support.
"I think it falls on us as D core. We need to be better for him and not give up high-quality chances," Makar said.
Despite the loss, Makar believes the team can fix its mistakes. He said that the locker room was confident after the first period, and the team will work on cleaning up the details before their next game.
The Avalanche next host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
